HARTFORD — The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a former worker at a UBS AG subsidiary who claims he was fired in 2008 in violation of his free speech rights, after repeatedly warning that properties held in the company’s investment funds were overvalued by millions of dollars.
Justices said in the decision released Monday that the state constitution and state law ban public and private employers from disciplining workers for speech about “matters of significant public interest.”
Richard Trusz of Glastonbury is suing the Swiss bank and subsidiary UBS Realty Investors for back pay and punitive damages in federal court, where a judge asked the state Supreme Court to rule on the issue.
UBS denies Trusz’s allegations that it ignored his warnings and failed to disclose the overvaluations to investors.
